Intentions to Marry, 1911 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840447, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 156

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar A. Andrews

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

866

25 October 1911

Robert Patrick
Annie Priscilla Carver

Robert Patrick
Annie Priscilla Carver
💍 1911/8187

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

25
20

Hilton
Geraldine

25 years
3 days

Honor of Mr. John Thomas Dear, Geraldine

11/8256

Mary Jane Patterson, Mother

25 October 1911

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	866
Date of Notice	25 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Patrick	Annie Priscilla Carver
	💍 1911/8187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Geraldine
Length of Residence	25 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Honor of Mr. John Thomas Dear, Geraldine
Folio	11/8256
Consent	Mary Jane Patterson, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

867

14 November 1911

James Francis Cleary
Mary Farrell

James Francis Cleary
Mary Farrell
💍 1911/8230

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Barmaid

30
28

Christchurch
Geraldine

5 years
2 months

Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch, Geraldine

11/8266

14 November 1911

Rev. H. G. Bowes Dean, Roman Catholic

No	867
Date of Notice	14 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Cleary	Mary Farrell
	💍 1911/8230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Barmaid
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Geraldine
Length of Residence	5 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch, Geraldine
Folio	11/8266
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowes Dean, Roman Catholic

868

15 November 1911

Silas Webb
Julia Ann Ford

Silas Webb
Julia Ann Ford
💍 1911/7970

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

36
34

Woodbury
Belfield, Orari

12 years
25 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

11/8029

15 November 1911

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	868
Date of Notice	15 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Webb	Julia Ann Ford
	💍 1911/7970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Belfield, Orari
Length of Residence	12 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	11/8029
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

869

30 November 1911

Leonard James Binnington
Ida Julia Howarth

Leonard James Bennington
Ida Julia Howens
💍 1912/1415

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Domestic Duties

24
23

Geraldine
Waimataitai, Timaru

13 years
23 years

House of Mr. W. Howarth, Waimataitai, Timaru

12/1048

30 November 1911

Rev. Thomas Illingworth, Presbyterian

No	869
Date of Notice	30 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard James Binnington	Ida Julia Howarth
BDM Match (86%)	Leonard James Bennington	Ida Julia Howens
	💍 1912/1415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Waimataitai, Timaru
Length of Residence	13 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Howarth, Waimataitai, Timaru
Folio	12/1048
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Illingworth, Presbyterian

870

19 December 1911

Frederick Hedley Clemens Martin
Jane Scott

Fredderick Hedley Clemens Martin
Jane Scott
💍 1911/8259

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer and Bookseller
Dressmaker

28
29

Geraldine
Addington, Christchurch

6 months
25 years

Methodist Church, Sydenham, Christchurch

11/8329

19 December 1911

Rev. Samuel Lawry, Methodist

No	870
Date of Notice	19 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hedley Clemens Martin	Jane Scott
BDM Match (98%)	Fredderick Hedley Clemens Martin	Jane Scott
	💍 1911/8259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer and Bookseller	Dressmaker
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Addington, Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Sydenham, Christchurch
Folio	11/8329
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Lawry, Methodist

871

21 December 1911

Edward Sunnitt White
Amanda Mary Dunlop

Edward Punnett White
Maude Mary Dunlop
💍 1911/8301

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Tailoress

30
30

Geraldine
Timaru

29 years
2 weeks

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

11/8296

21 December 1911

Rev. Henry William Harper, Church of England

No	871
Date of Notice	21 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Sunnitt White	Amanda Mary Dunlop
BDM Match (84%)	Edward Punnett White	Maude Mary Dunlop
	💍 1911/8301
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Tailoress
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Timaru
Length of Residence	29 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	11/8296
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry William Harper, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).